Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Sauce
Chapter 1 — Rubs, Sauces & Mops: The Foundational Layer
Before tomatoes and molasses hijacked the American barbecue consciousness, there was vinegar, pepper, and pork fat. This is the mother of all barbecue sauces, an uncompromising, fiercely defended coastal plain tradition built to slice through the rich, silky fat of slow-smoked whole hog. It is watery, sharp, deeply peppery, and completely devoid of ketchup. Treat it with respect, give it time to steep, and watch what it does to a deeply barked pork shoulder.
Before you start
Secure a non-reactive storage vessel.
You will need a glass mason jar or a plastic squeeze bottle for storing the sauce, as the high acidity will react poorly with extended exposure to metal.
Ingredients
- apple cider vinegar1 1/2 cup
- distilled white vinegar1/2 cup
- Texas Pete hot sauce2 tbsp
- dark brown sugar2 tbsp
- coarse kosher salt1 tbsp
- crushed red pepper flakes1 tbsp
- coarse black pepper1 1/2 tsp
- cayenne pepper1/2 tsp
Method
- 01
Combine the ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan.
Use stainless steel or enamel, never bare cast iron or aluminum. Whisk together the apple cider vinegar, distilled white vinegar, hot sauce, brown sugar, salt, and spices.
- 02
Bring to a gentle simmer to dissolve the solids.
Place over medium heat and whisk continuously for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the sugar and salt completely vanish into the liquid. Do not let it reach a rolling boil, or the vinegar's essential acidic bite will rapidly evaporate.
- 03
Remove from heat and steep.
Let the mixture cool completely in the pan. The residual heat extracts the essential oils from the chili flakes and black pepper, building the sauce's delayed, warming heat profile.
- 04
Bottle and rest the sauce.
Transfer to a glass mason jar or a plastic squeeze bottle and shake vigorously. While you can use it immediately, resting it in the refrigerator for at least 24 to 48 hours allows the harsh raw vinegar edges to mellow into a balanced, complex dressing.
Notes
Mop the meat during the final hours of the cook.
If you are smoking a pork shoulder over pecan wood at 225°F, leave it naked through the stall to build a crusty bark. Dab this mop onto the meat every 45 minutes during the last two to three hours as it pushes toward a target internal temperature of 190°F to 195°F.
Dress the pork after the pull, not before.
Rest the finished shoulder for at least an hour in a faux Cambro (a dry cooler lined with towels). Pull the meat by hand—never chop a lone shoulder, or it turns to mush—and immediately dash the remaining sauce over the steaming strands so the acidic vinegar emulsifies with the hot pork fat.
Substitute the hot sauce if necessary.
Texas Pete is the culturally accurate choice for Eastern North Carolina. If you cannot locate it, a straightforward Louisiana-style hot sauce like Crystal or Frank's RedHot is the most acceptable alternative.
Do not add tomatoes under any circumstances.
Adding ketchup or tomato paste instantly converts this into a Western North Carolina Lexington-style dip. Respect the coastal tradition and keep the sauce pure.
From Cook BBQ at Home.